UN chief warns of Syrian civil war if massacres continue

As doubts grow over an internationally-brokered ceasefire between Syrian and rebel forces, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Thursday that massacres like the one that killed 100 people in Houla last weekend could lead the country to civil war.

REUTERS - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Thursday that massacres of civilians, such as the one perpetrated in Houla last weekend, could plunge Syria into a devastating civil war.

Ban cited fears raised on Tuesday by Kofi Annan, the joint special envoy for the Arab League and United Nations, that Syria may have already reached a “tipping point” following the slaughter of 108 people in Houla last Friday. The April 12 ceasefire, that forms part of Annan’s 6-point plan to restore peace, has so far failed to take hold.

“The massacre of civilians of the sort seen last weekend could plunge Syria into catastrophic civil war – a civil war from which the country would never recover,” the U.N. secretary-general told a conference in Istanbul.